Locals Rule
Since moving to this area of West Wales, Anna and I have always tried (without trying too hard) to integrate with the locals. It has to be said that it isn’t a difficult thing to do as many of the ‘locals’ are actually well established incomers. However, even as students at Aberystwyth University we tended to integrate with local people, whereas most students tend to only associate with other students.
Anna was a member of the local band and worked in a local shop. I worked in the household of several locals and surfed and windsurfed with local people. Through these activities our network of local contacts increased and we felt more and more integrated with the community. Maybe this is one of the reasons we wanted to stay here as to feel settled anywhere you need to be accepted.
We’re not the first and won’t be the last people to do this. In fact many students do tend to stay here as this area of West Wales seems to have that effect on people; once you have experienced the place you won’t want to leave. Most students do leave once their studies are over though and those that stay do tend to be the minority who looked beyond student life and made contact with the locals.
Now, as accepted ‘locals’ ourselves we still tend to support local people as much as possible. We shop in local shops if at all possible, use local businesses for goods and services and generally help out with local happenings. We aren’t busy-bodies and we don’t go out of our way to be a part of the community, but when we need something we find we are better served by local businesses than the big national chains. Just yesterday on my way to work in some of the best weather Wales can throw at us (torrential rain, black skies and gales) my van decided to stop working, all electrical functions stopped including the lights and windscreen wipers, so it was off to the garage to get a new alternator. The big chains couldn’t get the part or fit me in, but a tiny, local back-street garage managed not only to get the part, but to have it fitted and ready to go within a couple of hours. On top of which they only charged just over trade price on the part as well. Of course, he knows it will pay as I’ll recommend him to other locals and will probably end up doing him a favour in the future.
Just one way that being part of a local community can add to the richness of life.
